The London Film Festival, an international cinema showcase, opens Wednesday with “360,” a fittingly globe-spanning drama that moves from London to Vienna, Rio de Janeiro and Denver, Colorado.
The film by “City of God” director Fernando Meirelles stars Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz in a daisy chain of interlinked love stories based on Arthur Schnitzler’s century-old play “La Ronde.”
The two-week festival features more than 300 features and shorts from 55 countries. It promises something for cinephiles and celebrity-watchers alike — including two star turns from George Clooney. He directed and stars in political thriller “The Ides of March” and plays a detached father thrust into a caring role in Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants.”
Stars expected on the red carpet range from funnyman Seth Rogen to dramatic powerhouse Michael Fassbender — playing both a sex addict in Steve McQueen’s “Shame” and Carl Jung in David Cronenberg’s psychoanalytic drama “A Dangerous Method.”
Films with literary roots include Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut, “Coriolanus,” Andrew Arnold’s brooding “Wuthering Heights” and “Trishna,” and Michael Winterbottom’s India-set take on Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles,” starring Freida Pinto.
Founded in 1957 to show the best of the year’s world cinema to a British audience, the festival has in the past few years tried to carve out a place on the international festival calendar with bigger pictures and more glittering stars.
While most of the films have already made their debuts at Sundance, Cannes, Toronto or Venice, there are 13 world premieres in the lineup, most of them new British features.
Highlights include “The Kid With a Bike,” a drama from Belgium’s Dardenne brothers; Nanni Moretti’s Vatican satire “We Have a Pope”; Sundance hit “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” starring Elizabeth Olsen as a traumatized cult runaway; and French director Michael Hazanavicius’ delightful silent-film homage “The Artist.”
Controversy may be provided by “W.E.” — Madonna’s take on the romance between King Edward VIII and American divorcee Wallis Simpson, critically derided at its Venice debut — and Roland Emmerich’s Shakespeare-bashing “Anonymous,” which stars Rhys Ifans as the putative true author of the Bard’s plays.
On Oct. 26, the festival will hand out a best-picture prize, from a shortlist that includes “The Artist, “The Descendants,” Aleksandr Sokurov’s Venice Film festival winner “Faust” and Lynne Ramsay’s high school massacre drama “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”
The festival closes Oct. 27 with “Deep Blue Sea,” which stars Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale — stiff upper lips a-quiver — in Terence Davies’ adaptation of Terrence Rattigan’s play about a postwar love triangle.
Beyoncé’s Halftime Show Highlighted Netflix’s NFL Debut On Xmas Day
Beyoncé provided more excitement than either game during Netflix's NFL debut on Christmas Day.
Riding into her halftime appearance on a white horse, the 32-time Grammy winner rocked her hometown Houston crowd with a nearly 13-minute performance on Wednesday.
She surprised fans by bringing along Shaboozey to perform "Sweet Honey Buckiin" and Post Malone joined her for "Levii's Jeans."
The action on the field didn't live up to expectations as the NFL showcased four of the AFC's top five teams.
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce exposed a glitch in Pittsburgh's defense during Kansas City's 29-10 rout in the first game.
The broadcast itself went off just fine, quickly becoming the second-most popular live title on Netflix to date, according to NFL Media.
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens led C.J. Stroud and the Texans to 17-2 at halftime before Beyoncé stole the show.
Mariah Carey opened Wednesday's doubleheader with a taped performance of "All I Want for Christmas is You" and then the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs trounced the Steelers to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
There were no signs of any major streaming issues during the game after Netflix experienced minor blunders at the start of the pregame show. The broadcast opened with roughly 10 seconds of silence because it appeared studio host Kay Adams' microphone wasn't turned on.
Beyoncé's live performance at NRG Stadium was supposed to be the biggest test for the streaming giant and it seemed to go off without a hitch.
Mahomes threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns and Kelce had eight catches for 84 yards and one score as the Chiefs (15-1) earned a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The... Read More